‘Our best game by far' against Charlotte not enough as Laval Rocket swept from Eastern Conference final

Montreal Gazette

3 days ago

Laval Rocket
After finishing first overall in the AHL this season, the Laval Rocket entered the playoffs like lions.
Following an opening-round bye, Laval won the first two games at Cleveland before defeating the Monsters in four games. And while the Rocket required the maximum five contests, it still outlasted Rochester in the North Division final.
But Laval exited the post-season like lambs, swept by the vastly superior Charlotte Checkers in the Eastern Conference final. The last blow came Tuesday night, with Charlotte edging the visiting Rocket 3-2 before 7,317 spectators at Bojangles Coliseum.
While it was Laval's most competitive game of the series, it nonetheless found a new way to lose, squandering a 2-0 lead.
With the teams apparently headed to overtime for the first time in the series, Jesse Puljujarvi scored the winning goal with 2:03 remaining in regulation time.
THE GOAL THAT SENT US TO THE FINALS pic.twitter.com/QnILhSBfq3
— Charlotte Checkers (@CheckersHockey) June 4, 2025
There appeared to be indecision on the play between defenceman Zack Hayes and rookie goaltender Jacob Fowler, making his first start against the Checkers after Cayden Primeau was removed in the second period of each of the last two games.
Fowler hesitated coming out of his net in an attempt to clear the puck, forcing Hayes to make an errant dive. The puck went directly onto Puljujarvi's stick. With Fowler now far removed from his crease, Puljujarvi scored easily into the empty net for his second goal of the playoffs.
'It really hurts to give up that one,' Fowler told the media in Charlotte. 'The boys played so good in front of me all night. It was just one of those plays. We knew it was going to be a sloppy break like that. I have to make the read off him. When you want to get back in the series that's something I've got to be better on, learn from it and hopefully not make that mistake again.
'It hurts to lose but I'm really proud to have been a small impact on this group,' added Fowler, a late-season addition from Boston College. 'Being down 3-0 on the road, it's hard. We were 2½ minutes away from maybe going to overtime or scoring late. I wish I could have given them a better last 2½ minutes.'
Puljujarvi, selected fourth overall by Edmonton in 2016, has 387 NHL games to his credit between the Oilers, Carolina, Pittsburgh and Florida. The Finnish winger played 31 games in the NHL this season, including 26 with the Penguins.
It was Charlotte's eighth consecutive playoff victory, while Laval limped to the finish line with a 2-6 record in its last eight playoff games and 6-7 overall.
Laval played a strong first period and had a 6-3 edge in shots through 10 minutes. The visitors nearly took the lead in the 13th minute, while short-handed. For the second consecutive game, Alex Barré-Boulet had a breakaway. And for the second consecutive game, he couldn't beat goalie Kaapo Kahkonen.
On Sunday, Barré-Boulet's shot hit the post. This time he deked and went to his forehand, but Kahkonen made the save with his left pad.
Kahkonen spent four seasons in the NHL, between 2020-24, with Minnesota and San Jose. He now has allowed two goals or fewer in nine of 12 games.
Laval nonetheless scored the opening goal for the first time in the series in the final minute of the opening period, when Joshua Roy deflected Gustav Lindstrom's shot from the point. It was Roy's fourth goal of the playoffs and he arguably played his strongest game. Roy was involved and had a team-leading four shots.
Barré-Boulet drew the second assist on the goal — his first point of the series.
Owen Beck gave the Rocket a two-goal advantage before the second period was three minutes old, converting a pass from Noel Hoefenmayer, and all things seemed possible.
But Laval's euphoria was short-lived.
Only 1:40 later, Justin Sourdif converted a two-on-one break, beating Fowler to the stick side. Only defenceman David Reinbacher, a Canadiens first-round (fifth overall) draft choice in 2023, was back on the play after both Lucas Condotta and Rafael Harvey-Pinard were caught up ice.
Two minutes later, Charlotte forward Riley Bezeau received a five-minute major and game misconduct for his illegal hit to the head of Lindstrom, who didn't return, forcing Laval to play with only five defencemen. And the team already was missing injured blueliners William Trudeau and Tyler Wotherspoon.
Not only did Laval fail to capitalize on the power play, MacKenzie Entwistle tied the score with a short-handed goal, converting yet another two-on-one break — following a turnover by Sean Farrell — and beating Fowler again to the stick side.
It was Charlotte's third short-handed goal of the series.
'That was our best game by far this series,' defenceman Logan Mailloux told the media in Charlotte. 'I think we deserved to win that one. It stings a little more. We really emptied the tanks. Obviously not the result we wanted but I thought we deserved better. Everybody stepped up. I was really proud of everyone.
'Tonight we showed what we could have done. I wish we'd have done that three games ago.'
While both teams took a tentative approach to the third period, Laval failed to generate any serious scoring opportunities. Instead, it was Wilmer Skoog who hit the post in the fifth minute.
Charlotte, which last won the Calder Cup in 2019, defeating Chicago in five games, will meet either Abbotsford or Texas in the championship round. Abbotsford leads that best-of-seven Western Conference final series 2-1.
Charlotte is the AHL affiliate of the defending Stanley Cup-champion Florida Panthers. The Panthers will attempt to defend their title in a rematch against the Edmonton Oilers. The Cup final begins Wednesday night at Edmonton (8 p.m., CBC, SN, TVA Sports). The Canadiens, in 1993, were the last Canadian team to capture the NHL title.